


never be afraid if you fall

by cobblestaubrey



Series: PP Rare Pair Week 2020 [7]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Day 7, F/F, Freebie, Pitch Perfect Rare Pair Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23740963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cobblestaubrey/pseuds/cobblestaubrey
Summary: "Ashley Jones is almost like Beca Mitchell.Replace the flannels with worn sports jerseys and the smug smirk with a lazy, lopsided smile and, yeah, you’ve got Ashley. Except Ashley can actually accept the fact she likes things like singing and staring at girls' asses in flight attendant uniforms.Uh."
Relationships: Ashley Jones/Aubrey Posen, Aubrey Posen/Ashley Jones
Series: PP Rare Pair Week 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1701769
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	never be afraid if you fall

**Author's Note:**

> The final day! Pitch Perfect Rare Pair Week 7 - Whatever! 
> 
> I wanted to find an outlandish ship, so here. Ashley and Aubrey. Sure!

Ashley Jones is _almost_ like Beca Mitchell.

Replace the flannels with worn sports jerseys and the smug smirk with a lazy, lopsided smile and, yeah, you’ve got Ashley. Except Ashley can actually accept the fact she _likes_ things like singing and staring at girls' asses in flight attendant uniforms. 

Uh. 

Aubrey doesn’t want to say she would be attracted to Beca Mitchell if she was more like Ashley, but she also doesn’t want to admit that she’s attracted to Ashley, either. Ashley and Jessica have this _thing_ going on, right? 

Sure, Aubrey and Chloe are just as close, and they’ve never done anything. However, Aubrey reasons that Ashley and Jessica _belong_ together, in the same way that Chloe and Beca might, if Beca could stop looking at _men_ for a minute and realize there is a much hotter _woman_ staring right at her. 

So, yes, Ashley and Beca have a bit in common. There’s that air of swagger around them, that type of I-can’t-be-bothered-to-care-right-now, laid back attitude. Aubrey can admit she likes brunettes better than blondes, and Ashley’s got a low, raspy, voice, and okay - 

Ashley is not a lot like Beca, at all. Comparing Ashley to Beca (just because she’s got some pent up sexual frustration and can’t be bothered to actually get to know Ashley) is stupid and immature. 

So she gets to know Ashley, because she’s a Bella and Bellas are for life. She invites a few of the girls out to breakfast one day when she knows they’re all free, and only her, Ashley, and Cynthia-Rose make it, because despite knowing their schedules, the others say they have class. It’s weird to see Ashley without her other half, and it’s a weird dynamic, the three of them. They spend the morning very respectfully checking out their waitress, which makes them all relax because there’s clearly no judgement there. Cynthia-Rose is the one that goes home with the waitress’ number. Aubrey is typically one to admonish things like that, because the waitress is just there to do her job, but she _was_ wearing a rainbow pin and giving each of them the ‘eyes’ (whatever that means, Cynthia-Rose just said it meant something good). 

Ashley laughs when Cynthia-Rose fist pumps, and Aubrey sort of _really_ likes the sound of that. Ashley isn’t a bother _just_ to be a bother like Beca, and she likes to go along with everything. 

She isn’t super energetic like Jessica or extremely bubbly like Chloe, or crass like Stacie. She isn’t as quiet as Lily or Denise, but she isn’t as loud as Amy. She isn’t really like any of the Bellas, but she’s herself. Just like how Chloe can be described as some mix of Stacie and Jessica, or how Aubrey was deemed too much of a mix between Alice and her friend, Bridgette, anyone could be described as an amalgamation of two or three other people. 

Aubrey ends up making her breakfasts with Ashley and Cynthia-Rose a regular _thing_ , and it’s weird because she doesn’t usually have _things_ with people who aren’t Chloe. 

Then, one day, thirty minutes before their breakfast, Cynthia-Rose texts the Bella group chat that she can’t make it. Most of the Bellas respond with various “oh shit was there a thing today?” messages, but Aubrey’s eyes are focused on Ashley’s response which is:

_that’s ok we’ll save u smth!_

Aubrey would _usually_ be stuck on a message like that because Ashley’s grammar sucks, but she’s instead stuck on the fact that this means Ashley is willingly having breakfast with _just_ Aubrey. She pictures Ashley explaining this to Jessica. The questions, the judgement, Ashley defending Aubrey. The blonde shakes her head. There’s no time to day dream. She has to finish getting ready. 

She’s nervous, which is silly. It’s just Ashley. This isn’t a date, it’s two friends going out to breakfast like they always do, just with one less member. She tries to plan topics of conversations to approach if they run out of things to say. They never run out of things to say, the three of them, but maybe Cynthia-Rose was a buffer all along? Maybe Ashley has awful conversational skills and it was Aubrey or CR carrying the conversation. 

That can’t be right, because Ashley made Aubrey laugh so hard with only one word and a look the other week because of some topic Aubrey can’t even remember, and she knows that it’s going to be fine. 

When she arrives at the diner, Ashley is already there with both of their regular coffees and Aubrey’s favorite pastry. The blonde smiles at her almost involuntarily, but then just lets herself be happy and it blossoms into a full grin. 

The two talk for a while. Turns out Ashley has a huge economics test later that day and she was up studying all night. Aubrey apologizes for making her come out, and Ashley just says “Don’t worry about, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be,” and _that_ sounds pretty romantic.

Aubrey wants to convince herself that she’s only feeling butterflies because this is the first time this year that someone is being nice to her. However, she can’t deny how she feels when Ashley laughs and puts a hand on her shoulder.

The blonde can’t help but ask about Jessica, because if she’s going to do _anything_ (which she shouldn’t, because she’s Ashley’s captain), she needs to know that Ashley’s available, at least.

Ashley is a little taken aback, but she hides it well. She says that Jessica is just her friend and definitely straight, and there’s no undertone of bitterness, so Aubrey takes that as a good thing. 

At the end of their breakfast, Ashley grabs Aubrey’s wrist before she leaves, and the blonde turns to look at Ashley expectantly. 

Ashley looks nervous, which Aubrey hasn’t seen since the brunette’s Bellas audition. 

Aubrey waits patiently, until Ashley finally asks - well, stutters out - if this could have been a date. 

The taller girl is clearly berating herself for asking what she thinks is a dumb question, because they do this every week. Aubrey can’t help but smile, putting her hand on Ashley’s forearm and giving it a squeeze.

 _If you want it to be_.

Ashley’s mouth opens just a little bit, but no sound comes out. She only nods, and then manages a smile. She’s clearly still nervous, though, because her smile looks more like a grimace, and Aubrey laughs. She asks if Ashley will walk her to class, and Ashley nods enthusiastically, getting up and pushing in her chair. She holds out her hand to Aubrey, and the blonde takes it, standing up. She never removes her hand from Ashley’s, and they make their way to class. On their way, Aubrey sees Beca Mitchell in the quad, leaning against a tree while an excited Chloe talks, throwing her hands around dramatically. She can see Beca try (and fail) to act like she doesn’t care, and Aubrey laughs because Ashley isn’t anything like Beca Mitchell.

Ashley is just Ashley, and Aubrey really, _really_ likes Ashley. 


End file.
